Command & Conquer: Crossroads Of Fire
by Red Sentinel
Summary: Two legendary Commandos from GDI and Nod fall for each other. As the Earth falls to the Scrin, only they can lead the rebellion to save humanity. Please R&R this is only my 2nd story...
1. Prologue

Note the changes to C&C I am making to this story to make it more realistic:

1) Tank weaponry/ rockets are more effective against infantry than in the game

2) Scrin can attack with their body parts/Scrin Annihilator Tripods/Reaper Tripods can pick up infantry in their tentacles

3) Highly trained infantry (Commando/Black Hand/Zone Trooper/Zone Raider/ Shadow Team/etc) can use a different weapon other than their own

4) Almost all infantry can shoot aircraft. Also almost all infantry (GDI/Nod) carry pistols as backup weapons.

Enjoy!

Command & Conquer: Crossroads Of Fire

Prologue

**Scrin High Command**

**Scrin Mothership**

The Scrin Overlord watched from his throne as Scrin glyphs blurred across the screen.

"Overlord, we have invaded Earth twice before. On both occasions we have been defeated. Recommended abort invasion," the Mothership AI reported. The Scrin Overlord pounded the armrests of his throne angrily.

"Ichor-LQ grows freely on Earth. I will stop at nothing to harvest this Ichor and capture Earth. Summon the Supervisor immediately."

"Yes, Overlord." The Mothership AI fell silent for a minute. Scrin glyphs continued to blur across the screen, displaying various intelligence obtained about Earth. Eventually the image of the Scrin Supervisor appeared. He was the Scrin's equivalent of a vizier, the second-in-command.

"Overlord!" The Supervisor bowed. "What are your wishes?"

"Ready the armies. We shall invade Earth again. This time we will succeed."

The Scrin Supervisor was astonished. "Overlord, the humans were much more formidable foes than we realised. We have been defeated twice before. Even in the second invasion, when the Reaper-17 and the Traveler-59 cults were sent in. We request permission to search the galaxy for more sources of Ichor."

The Overlord narrowed his eyes. "Are you questioning my orders?" he snarled.

The Supervisor shook his head fearfully. "No, Overlord. You are right. We should invade Earth again."

The Overlord was satisfied. "Very good, Supervisor. Summon Foreman 371. As the leader of the first invasion, he has gathered sufficient intelluigence on the humans."

"Very well, Overlord."

"And Supervisor? I shall be commanding this invasion myself."

"As you wish, Overlord." The Supervisor's hologram vanished from the screen, to be replaced by the hologram of Foreman 371.

"I am summoned, Overlord." The Scrin Foreman bowed deeply.

"The humans are brave fighters, yes?"

"Yes," the Foreman replied. "I have never seen anything like it. They fight to the last soldier, always. Even when all seems lost, they lead a suicide mission and fight with the desperation of a wounded beast. Their vehicles stand up to ours as well. But, Overlord, our spacecraft far overpower theirs. Our Stormriders strafe their columns. Our Devastator Warships pound their base from well behind our lines. Our Planetary Assault Carriers swarm them and strike them down with lightning from Ion Storms. And our Mothership can level their civilisation in one strike."

"Very well, Foreman. You shall become my advisor."

"I am honored, Overlord." The Foreman bowed and disappeared as well.

"Ready the armies," the Overlord commanded.

"As you wish, Overlord." The Mothership's main display screen blurred with glyphs as the symbols of all the Scrin cults materialized. "All armies ready. Prepare to launch planetary assault craft and Drone Ships."

One by one, the ships drifted into space. They didn't need rockets. Their pulse gravity propulsors could guide them through space, far faster than conventional rocket engines.

And the fact that they threw out the rocket aeons ago.

The Overlord watched them go. "Now there can be no failure…"


	2. Chapter 1: Aftermath

Chapter 1: Aftermath

**May 2051**

**Dresden, Germany**

"T minus five…four…three…two…one…"

The GDI Commando nodded and threw himself out the V-35 Ox transport plane. He streaked downwards at speed, activating the Jump Jet jetpack on his armor.

His teeth were gritted, resisting the G-forces as he plunged towards the ground. At the last moment, he kicked off a rooftop, leapt forward and rolled to a stop deftly. He swung his rail carbine round, scanning for any sign of Nod forces.

No one appeared.

The GDI Commando was a product of GDI's brutal Commando training regimen. It boasted an infamous 22% fatality rate, Even if you survived, you could be one of the 97% of the remainder who would eventually drop out.

The cream of the crop was what remained. Almost superhuman, they could run faster than almost anyone, tear their way through legions of Nod infantry, lay waste to a whole base all by themselves. They were symbols of hope for the normal GDI infantry.

And he wasn't just any old Commando.

He was Captain Marc Henderson, the youngest Commando and soldier to hold the rank of Captain ever in GDI's history at the age of twenty-four.

More infamously known as the Metalfist. He was GDI's symbol of hope and invincibility. The mere mention of the Metalfist struck fear in his enemies' hearts. And he was going to do a one-man recon of the city of Dresden.

Or what was left of it, so to speak.

Marc glanced left and right, up and down. Everywhere he looked was dominated by rubble. He hefted his assault railgun and stormed forward through the smouldering rubble of Dresden.

Inwardly, he shook his head. The city had been attacked by fanatical Nod commanders. GDI Central Command had been even more fanatical in holding the city.

The result? Dresden, in Marc's opinion one of the most beautiful cities in the world, was no more than rubble. And tens of thousands of civilians had been killed.

Not very good press.

He dodged right just as a rocket whooshed at him and detonated violently. Using the shockwave to propel himself, he spun round and fired into the rooftops.

There were four blood-curdling screams.

Four bodies fell out of the few standing buildings and landed at his feet with four sickening thuds. Marc scrutinized the dead Militant Rocket Squad soldiers. He flexed the fingers of his metal left hand thoughtfully.

He had lost his left hand on his first mission. He had been surrounded by Nod infantry when a rocket came in and detonated, blowing his left hand clean off. He had balanced his assault railgun on the bleeding stump of his left arm and cut the Nod infantry down with a long burst.

Marc turned left just in time to see a few squads of Black Hands and Confessor Cabals advance threateningly upon him. They levelled their flamethrowers and miniguns at him.

And one Black Hand soldier stepped to the front of the group. Marc recognised him at once.

"Confessor Xander…" he breathed. He was a leading figure in the Nod Black Hand ranks.

The confessor nodded at him. "Metalfist…So it ends here, for one of us…" he snarled. "For you, I mean! Get him!"

The Confessor Cabals opened fire, blazing away on full automatic, spraying the air with bullets, enough to kill a whole battalion of troops. The Black Hand soldiers advanced, their flamethrowers at the ready.

Marc ducked beneath the crisscrossing fire and flames. He staggered back as a burst caught him in the shoulder. "AARGH!"

"That's it!" Confessor Xander hissed. "Finish him!"

The next moment, the Metalfist spun round. His assault railgun blazed away, and every single one of Confessor Xander's soldiers dropped like flies.

And the Metalfist closed in on Confessor Xander. A Confessor Cabal gurgled and the Metalfist mercifully pulled his pistol and shot him between the eyes.

Confessor Xander backed off. "Please…show mercy?" he asked hopefully.

The Metalfist lowered his assault railgun. The confessor breathed a sigh of relief; he had been spared. He was vaguely aware of the Metalfist stowing away his assault railgun. "Thank you..." he muttered.

"You're welcome." Marc flexed his left hand. As the adamantium claws on his left hand unsheathed, he drove them straight into Confessor Xander's chest. The confessor fell to his knees and pitched forward.

The next moment, an Obelisk of Light laser incinerated the body of Confessor Xander. Marc was thrown back and felt the sheer heat of the powerful laser even through his armor.

_What the hell?_ he thought. _Unless..._

He turned and saw the Avatar Warmech aiming its laser at him again. As its arm grew red, Marc moved. He jumped as the Avatar blasted the ground under him and grabbed a lamppost. He swung round and launched himself up into the air. He activated the Jump Jet on his armor and rocketed down at the Avatar.

"You're going dirt tastin'," he muttered. As he landed at the Avatar's legs, he slammed a detonation pack on the walker and rolled forward.

He didn't even turn back as the walker's husk crashed to the ground.


	3. Chapter 2: The Poisoned Rose

Chapter 2: The Poisoned Rose

**Temple Prime**

**Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina**

"NOOO!!"

The Nod Commando jerked awake in a cold sweat. She blinked for a moment as she returned to reality. She rubbed her eyes groggily.

The nightmare was back. She knew it was.

It had always been haunting her, coming and going, but always returning to her. She could never shake it off.

She groaned, rubbing the scar down her back as needle-sharp pain flashed down her back and reluctantly got up. She walked to the mirror and stared long and hard at her reflection. Even with her long auburn hair all tangled up, she was stunningly beautiful.

Her name was Natalya Krupskaya. But the Nod commanders had another name for her.

The Poisoned Rose.

She had gotten the nickname on how beautiful she was, and she was far deadlier than she looked.

Any man who set eyes on her could fall in love there and then. She had it all; a slender face, deep green eyes, a svelte body, just the right combination of muscle and feminine curves and a killer attitude.

She was the ultimate killer. Yet she was only twenty-two, the youngest Nod Commando ever. Most girls joined at her current age. She had joined at eighteen. And she had proven herself in the sadistic training only the best could survive.

Natalya hit the showers and rinsed off. The warm water rushed and rippled over her pale skin.

God, it felt so good, so warm. She smiled ruefully to herself. When you had to live hard, every little luxury counted.

She got out and dressed, zipping up the red bodysuit all Nod Commandos wore. She pulled out her twin laser pistols, twirling them around her slender fingers before clipping them on her belt.

Natalya walked down the dark hallways of Temple Prime, lit only by the light coming from red stained-glass windows. She headed for the mess hall.

She rounded the corner just in time to see a fellow Nod Commando materialize out of nowhere. As she deactivated her stealth generators, Natalya smiled at her.

"Hey, Anna."

"Hey." Anastasia Evans, her best friend, smiled back at her. She leaned against the wall, smoking. "I heard the commanders just got another mission for you. High priority. You'd better get there now..." she smiled.

Natalya nodded. "Thanks..." She walked to the Temple's High Command quarters. She knocked on the door.

"Come in, Lieutenant," a curt voice replied. She opened the door hesitantly, and then strode in confidently. She stopped, hesitating for a split-second as she saw who had summoned her. She broke into a salute.

Kane, Brother Marcion and Nod General Anton Rolf were waiting for her. General Rolf returned the salute. "At ease, Poisoned Rose."

She sat down, crossing one leg over the other and looked up expectantly at the Nod high command.

"As you and us know, so far you have had twenty successful missions. You are one of our most successful Nod Commandos ever in our history. Thus," Brother Marcion explained, "We have called upon you to assassinate one of GDI's Commandos. He has been _quite_ the thorn in our flesh..."

A holographic image appeared next to Kane. He simply smiled as Natalya realized who he was.

He appeared just like any other GDI Commando. The only difference was his armor. Instead of a name on the left side of his armor, his armor bore the image of a metal-studded spiked fist.

Natalya smiled. "He's going down..."

"I admire your zeal, Krupskaya..." General Rolf replied, smiling approvingly.

"He will not be an easy opponent, my daughter. He is well-trained, fierce. He will fight savagely. But you..." Kane nodded at her, "You will show that Nod will and always never be overcome."

"Yes, Kane."

"Which brings us to our next point. Your past..."

Natalya narrowed her eyes. "You said I should never let go. That the hate should drive me on..." She sighed. "It's tearing me up from the inside. And I just..." She looked down. "It haunts me..."

Brother Marcion nodded. "No one should have gone through what you did. But..." He shook his head. "It's better this way. You will use this as a fire. A fire to destroy GDI..."

Natalya nodded. She turned to leave. "Thank you, sirs..."

Kane watched her go. General Rolf smiled at her. "She is beautiful, isn't she, Messiah?"

Kane smiled. "Beautiful and deadly." He looked out a window.

"_The rose blossoms in the poisoned fields, and the poison becoms hers to wield..."_


	4. Chapter 3: Converging Paths

Chapter 3: Converging Paths

**GDI Forward Base**

**Baku, Azerbaijan**

The GDI Zone Troopers sat on the floor of the barracks in a circle.

"Can someone remind me why the hell we're here?" First Sergeant Jacob Bertenrath asked loudly. "I mean, just look at this place..."

"Yeah, just check it out..." Corporal Victor Deckerman muttered. He pretended to look out the window of the barracks. "I spy with my little eye...Nod country, rubble, miles and miles of wasteland...Tiberium on every spare patch of land..." He shook his head. "The one thing I _don't_ see is the end of our deployment here!"

"Talk about it..." Private Hector Gerald groaned. He lay down on his bed. "Wake me when it's all over..."

Lieutenant Eric Jansen looked at each member of his platoon. "You guys know damned well why we're here for. Metalfist needs backup to destroy the Nod bases to the north of our position. Anyway..." He grinned. "Apparently we're not the only ones here..."

He had barely finished his sentence when several Zone Raiders, ZOCOM's elite all-female outfit, walked into the room. Armed with area-of-effect sonic grenade launchers and surface-to-air missiles, they were the ideal counterparts to Zone Troopers.

"Hey." Staff Sergeant Tricia Raymond smiled, sitting down next to them. She brushed her long blonde hair out of her face. "Still musing about being stuck here?"

"Helps pass the time," Sergeant Bertenrath remarked laconically. "You should try it...It really works..."

"You cynics..." Lieutenant Susan Anderson grinned.

"Talk about it. You guys just love pessimism..." Sergeant Alexis Drake shook her head. Suddenly another Zone Raider strode into the room. The other Zone Raiders immediately stood up and snapped a salute. As the newcomer stepped in, the Zone Troopers saw who she was.

Tall, lean and lanky, with dark cropped hair, Captain Vera Walters entered the room. Lieutenant Jansen smiled and nodded at her.

"Captain Walters. What a surprise..."

"That's _ma'am_ to you..." she replied, with a curt smile. With wit as sharp as a blade and well-versed in combat, Vera Walters brought army life to a whole new level. No one doubted for an instant how courageous she was, and how many army jocks she had humiliated as she had risen through the ranks.

And how she could bring whole new levels of hell for those who really pissed her off.

"Anyway, there's nothing for you to groan about here."

"Really?" Corporal Deckerman looked unconvinced.

"Well, yeah..." Captain Walters pointed to the valley opposite them. "Except for the Nod base over there..."

In the Nod base...

The confessor strode down the halls and corridors of the base. At the end of the corridor, he saw a familiar face. His eyes widened as he saw who it was.

"Confessor Vasily. It is a surprise, seeing you here...I thought you were in Vladivostok..."

"Yes, Confessor Ragnok. I have heard of the demise of Confessor Xander at the hands of the Metalfist. It is sad indeed...He was starting to gain some recognition in the ranks of the Black Hand..." Confessor Vasily murmured. As he spoke, the long scar down his cheek reddened and he clapped his hand to his cheek. "3 years, and my scar still hurts. But Confessor Xander..." He shook his head. He had been a longtime friend of Confessor Xander.

"Yes, a real pity." Yet no sound of sadness could be heard in Confessor Ragnok's voice. _An enemy out of the way,_ he thought. He sighed. _I wish I could have arranged that. But GDI is not to be trusted with anything. General Kilian Qatar did just that, and look where she ended up_.

"The Metalfist is here, is he not?" he demanded.

"Yes, he is..." Confessor Vasily hissed. "He won't be here for long..."

He glanced out the window at the GDI base.

"Let's give them a very warm welcome...A _very_ warm welcome, indeed..."

His eyes flashed with anger as he spoke.

"A shower of brimstone!"

Captain Marc Henderson watched as his forces lined up, ready for an attack on the Nod base.

He stood at the head of the attack force. Surveying every single one of them, he nodded slowly. "Everyone here?" Without waiting for an answer, he pointed forward with his left hand.

His forces moved off silently, trying to use the element of surprise. No one at Nod knew what was coming.

No one, except for one person.

The Nod Commando stood on the mountain top, surveying the GDI forces as they started to move off through ultra-sensitive binoculars. She panned left and right, not missing a single person. Then she smiled as she saw who was at the head of the forces.

She looked to the skies, her auburn hair blowing in the wind, her green eyes blazing with fury.

Her revenge on GDI was at hand.

And with it, she would avenge the slain innocents whom GDI had simply cast aside.


	5. Chapter 4: Crossroads

Chapter 4: Crossroads

The empty winds howled through the city of Baku.

Or more accurately its bloodied, rotting corpse, its empty, lifeless shell, its sprawling, slain body. It had been twenty long years since the banner of the scorpion had fallen on the city, dooming it to a new age of oblivion. As Nod reasserted its position in the Yellow Zone, crushing GDI resistance and retaking what had been theirs, the city had been all but destroyed.

The city was deserted, empty, like an abandoned house slated for demolition. There were the odd civilians who managed to survive, hiding in the few buildings still standing.

Of course, when spotted by any faction in this war they weren't alive for much longer.

Marc and his forces reached the outskirts of the city. He looked around, shaking his head at the sheer destruction. Bodies of countless people, civilians and soldiers, littered the streets. Rubble was piled up along the roads and streets. The stench of gunpowder, blood and sweat was in the air.

_And I thought Dresden was bad,_ he thought. _Nod has gone too far!_

Corporal Deckerman shuddered inside. Death and destruction were all around them, in the air they were breathing, in the brutal scenes before them, replicated in surreal reality no video game could ever hope to match, in the blackened skies. He gripped his railgun until his knuckes were white and started forward with the rest of his squad.

Marc blinked. Something was amiss here. Nod was nowhere to be seen. He narrowed his eyes. They were up to something. Suddenly he remembered the intelligence dossier he had read just that morning.

"_Nod appears to be keeping low. However, Nod has been amassing artillery near its base...Disruption Towers have been set up all around the base...denying further scouting operations..."_

Crap. Artillery?

And in the Nod base, Confessor Vasily strode up and down the ranks of Specter artillery lined up in front of the base, stretching in a seemingly endless line. Their large-caliber cannons were mounted skywards, primed to fire.

"Kane's Organ is ready to play!" he muttered into the comlink.

"_Excellent. Do it now,"_ came the reply.

"Yes, of course." Confessor Vasily prepared to give the order. "Target Neptune...FIRE!"

The Specters fired, one after the other, all along the row. Their cannons spat fiery blasts, arcing in perfect synchronization into the night. The shower of high-impact explosive shells lit up the sky like at a fireworks show as they whooshed into the sky.

Confessor Vasily grinned, showing yellow, uneven teeth. _Let's see how tough you really are, Metalfist._

"EVERYONE DOWN! NOW!"

The shells smashed into the ground, throwing up clumps of earth, rubble, tarmac and dust. Marc had given the order just in time. He and his forces crawled forward on their bellies, even as the barrage continued to pummel the area around them. The world became an inferno and Sergeant Bertenrath no longer knew where was up, where to go, only to keep moving forward...

The anti-personnel shells exploded in midair, raining down hot, twisted metal upon the hapless GDI soldiers, still advancing even in the wake of the artillery barrage. Screams filled the air, screams that made Marc's stomach twist.

The barrage lifted. Marc got to his feet almost immediately, followed by his forces. "Report!"

The commanding officer of the medics, Lieutenant Edward Gauss, came to the front. He shook his head. "We have suffered terrible casualties. Over fifty have been killed in Nod's very first attack. About two hundred are wounded."

"Do the best job you can. Bring the dead and wounded back to the Armory."

"Yes, sir." The medics moved in to assist the casualties, giving shots of morphine and other medication.

"The rest of you, follow me!" Marc waved. Most of the Zone Troopers and Zone Raiders had survived the devastating barrage due to their tough, resilient armor. Captain Walters came to the front.

"You guys go that way," she pointed east. "We'll take the western sector."

"Copy that," Marc replied. "I'm summoning backup now..."

Before they could do anything, they heard sounds. The sounds of 20th century rifles and miniguns being loaded. The sounds of flamethrowers and RPGs. They turned just as Militant Squads, Militant Rocket Squads, Confessor Cabals, Black Hands and Awakened cyborgs burst through the rubble.

Led by one very overzealous Confessor.

"FIRE!"

Marc, the Zone Troopers and Zone Raiders ducked down as a hail of bullets and rockets swept down upon them, blowing chunks off walls, making Swiss cheese out of the rubble around them, enough to rip through their armor like knives through ricepaper. Marc waved his hand and they returned fire, blazing away with heavy-duty railguns, assault railgun and sonic grenades.

The Nod infantry fell in heaps as the railguns and sonic grenades blasted through their ranks. The Awakened cyborgs and Black Hand soldiers staggered forward, taking multiple blasts before finally falling, their armor scorched from the powerful weapons. Bodies of Nod infantry were piled upon one another, smoke rising from their corpses.

Confessor Vasily retreated with his remaining troops, throwing hallucinogenic grenades wildly in an attempt to hold them back. Marc just stepped aside and Captain Walters pulled her pistol. She shot him between the eyes and he crumpled forward and lay still.

"Nice shot," Lieutenant Jansen remarked. She smiled.

"Zone Raiders, half of you move out! The other half, wait for reinforcements! Same for you, Troopers," Marc instructed.

"What about you sir?" Private Gerald asked. Marc looked up at the rooftops of the few buildings still standing.

"I'm going up there to see what the hell's going on. Maybe I can get a better view. "

He activated the Jump Jet on his armor and rocketed skyward, up onto the rooftops. He nodded in satisfaction. From here he could see everything going on, the Nod infantry and tanks advancing, the GDI reinforcements arriving, firefights throughout the city...

And a shadow behind him.

Marc just managed to leap out of the way as a burst from twin laser pistols seared the area he had just occupied. He levelled his assault railgun at his new threat.

Laser pistols. Uh-oh...

And the most beautiful Nod Commando he had ever seen leapt out of the shadows. Marc blinked as he took her in for the first time. She brushed her long auburn hair out of her face, her slender, beautiful face, her body to die for. And her eyes...they were like the deepest sea-green...The sweet smell of roses washed over him.

Everything about her was perfect. Except for the way she glared at him. Across the rooftops, they stared each other down.

"Metalfist..." she hissed. Marc groaned inside. _Even her voice is hot,_ he thought.

_Get a grip on yourself,_ he told himself angrily. _What a perfect time to fall in love. As if you're so deprived of girls back at GDI..._

"You must be the Poisoned Rose..." he replied curtly. "A pleasure to meet you..."

She drew and fired faster than the eye could blink. Marc dodged right and threw himself off the roof. "_Ciao_, sweetheart!"

Natalya watched, amazed as the GDI Commando threw himself off the roof, streaking downwards at breakneck speed. She leapt after him, firing as she did. The GDI Commando spun in midair, firing his assault railgun in accurate bursts. The bursts cut through her bodysuit, drawing blood at her side. Still, that barely slowed her down. She grabbed a lamppost as she reached the ground, swung herself round and rolled to her feet.

And then the Metalfist came at her.

She struck out, swinging her foot round in a deadly roundhouse kick. If it connected, she could have snapped his neck there and then.

The Metalfist dodged to one side and countered with a kick of his own. Natalya recovered and punched round. He dodged again and swung his left hand round, glancing off her temple. Even so, her whole head jarred and she tasted blood in her mouth.

_Ow_, she thought weakly as lightheadedness set in. She had to revise her strategy.

She activated her stealth generators and disappeared. She saw the Metalfist think the threat was over and move out. The Poisoned Rose followed as the Metalfist walked out into the open. Evidently she had caused him some damage as well. Parts of his armor were scorched where her laser blasts had hit.

As he walked to the crossroads, or what remained of it, he stopped and examined his surroundings. Natalya smiled. Big mistake.

She deactivated her stealth generators and delivered three devastating blows that brought the Metalfist to his knees. She grabbed him and pinned him against a signpost in the middle of the crossroads, her pistol at his head.

There. She had done it. The Metalfist was at her mercy. Yet the triumph she expected to feel was missing. Instead, the fury and hate in her heart only grew. He looked up at her. "You're good," he remarked. "Really got me there..."

"Now, Nod will really know who the Metalfist is..." Natalya grabbed his helmet and pulled. Marc resisted, but Natalya wrenched the helmet off his face. She gasped inside as she saw the true Metalfist for the first time.

Brown, close-cropped hair. Icy blue eyes that somehow held more warmth than any fire. A chiseled face, not even blighted by the long scar down his cheek.

Then again...he looked kind of cute. Or handsome. Or something like that. Maybe...

Her grip on him loosened for the slightest moment, and in that moment the Metalfist broke free, knocked the pistol from her hand and drew the claws of his left hand at her throat. Her eyes widened as she saw the moonlight reflect off cold adamantium.

"A cute girl like you shouldn't be doing this..." he murmured. Natalya couldn't help but grit her teeth at the comment.

Then both of them looked up as the sky was filled with Nod Vertigo Bombers, unleashing a deadly payload of groundpowder bombs over the whole city.

The crossroads burst into flames, and the Metalfist pulled on his helmet and ran back through the fire. Natalya ran in the opposite direction, even as the fire blazed all around her.

"_Is he dead yet?"_ General Rolf's voice uttered softly in her ear.

"We fought. He got away..." Natalya answered.

"_Get back to the base, and quickly. Things are getting pear-shaped around here..."_


	6. Chapter 5: Forbidden Step

Chapter 5: Forbidden Step

**GDI Central Command**

**Washington DC**

The halls of the conference room of GDI Central Command were packed, as an emergency meeting and debate was being been held to discuss the events at Baku.

"We have no choice. We have to pull him out."

"Or what? He can take care of himself. He's the Metalfist!"

ZOCOM's commander, General C. Elena Rentaria, was adamant. "Nod made an attempt on his life. We cannot let him stay at Baku for much longer. So long as he is there, every soldier is at risk. Baku is rubble after all. There is no point defending there anymore. If Nod wants it, they can have it!" Her stand drew roars of approval from the other members of GDI Central Command.

"At any sign of weakness, Nod will strike. Like a scorpion. Nod lives up to their own symbol and is not to be underestimated at all costs. Kane will have a field day on this!" General Frédéric Leroi replied. He had been one of GDI's leading commanders during the First and Second Tiberium Wars, and had learnt the hard way how Nod could suddenly strike when it seemed vanquished for good.

"Very well, then. Let's put it to a vote." GDI Director Claudia Darius spoke up. The hall immediately fell silent as she stood up. "All those in favor of withdrawal of the Metalfist from Baku?"

About three-quarters of the two-hundred strong members of GDI Central Command raised their hands.

"And those in favor of continuing to fight in Baku?" The remainder raised their hands glumly.

"Then it's settled. In twenty-four hours time, Captain Marc Henderson will be pulled out of Baku. Withdrawal of the rest of GDI forces will begin immediately." Across the room, General Rentaria smiled triumphantly at General Leroi.

"This emergency meeting is concluded. Everyone is dismissed." Even as Director Darius said those words and GDI Central Command left the conference room, General Leroi was still protesting bitterly.

"Nod is going to have a field day with this," he repeated over and over, but his protests fell on deaf ears.

**GDI Forward Base**

**Baku, Azerbaijan**

Marc yawned and stretched as someone knocked at the door of his quarters. He got up reluctantly, rubbing his chest and abdomen.

Man, the Poisoned Rose hit _really_ hard. He had taken some hard knocks, but this was one of the worst. There were deep red marks up and down his body, and even he had flinched from her vicious three-blow strike. He could barely move without the pain coursing through him. She sure was something.

And, he reflected, she was still out there, trying to get at him.

He opened the door almost lazily, dressed in crumpled GDI fatigues, only to see who had come. He involuntarily straightened up, tried to straighten out his crumpled fatigues and snapped a salute.

"Lieutenant-Colonel Sarah Ross. What's the call?"

She returned the salute. "At ease, Henderson. We just received orders straight from GDI Central Command." A thin smile spread across her face.

"We're pulling you out."

"WHAT!?"

"Yeah, no kidding. You know how GDI Central Command can be. So you're being withdrawn. Tonight. Sorry for the short notice, Henderson, but orders are orders." She gave him a wry smile. "Still, _she_ shouldn't be able to get at you, should she?"

Marc blinked. How the hell did _everyone_ know about his encounter with the Poisoned Rose? He himself had only told one other soldier about it. And now everyone knew.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Good. You leave at midnight. You'll be escorted by Orcas and Firehawks, just in case."

These words still rang in his head, even as the roar of the V-35 Ox's engines filled the empty night. He turned to see Lieutenant-Colonel Sarah Ross salute him.

"Have a nice trip," she said with a wry grin.

A German-looking pilot nodded at him from the cockpit. "Wing Commander Gerhardt Weber at your service." He tapped the radio on the V-35 Ox. "Okay, let's move out!"

From the base, four Orca gunships, modified by ZOCOM to fire sonic shells, lifted vertically off their launch pads. Eight other Firehawks blasted into the sky, some equipped with Hellcat Firebombs, others with Sidewinder Air-to-Air Missiles.

The convoy sped off silently into the darkness of night. No one at Nod was supposed to know about this.

And yet, the Shadow Team soldier smiled as he watched the convoy as it left. He turned to his other comrades, another Shadow Team soldier and a Nod Commando.

"Knew it. The cowards..." Master Sergeant Jak Hoffman snarled, shaking his head. "GDI is even more pathetic than I thought. One simple attack at Metalfist, and they freak."

"Where are they going?" the Nod Commando asked the other Shadow Team soldier, as he peered over a GPS tracker.

"Their trajectory suggests they are heading north. To Ukraine. Kharkov would be my best guess." Lieutenant James Delacroix replied as he tapped on the tracker. "It should take them about four hours to get there. Enough for you, Krupskaya?"

Natalya Krupskaya half-smiled. "I suppose..." She shook her head. There she went again. She should have just shot him when she had the chance. She just had to pull his helmet off and stare the Metalfist in the eyes.

And yet...it seemed so right. His icy eyes held more compassion than anyone else's. He was...She gritted her teeth. Why was she feeling so attracted to him?

Maybe...just maybe...but it was so unlikely...but there still was a chance...he was her way out of the miserable life she had led...

Natalya looked to the skies.

"Let's prepare for departure. He'll _never_ know what hit him..."


	7. Chapter 6: The Fire Kindled

Chapter 6: The Fire Kindled

**GDI Forward Base**

**Kharkhov, Ukraine**

The V-35 Ox banked in a wide circle, swinging in as it landed smoothly onto the tarmac. Wing Commander Gerhardt Weber nodded at Captain Marc Henderson as the convoy escorts of Orcas and Firehawks docked at Airfields for resupplying.

"There. You should be safe here. No one at Nod should know of your departure," he reassured, as Marc stepped off the Ox transport.

"I hope you're right..." Marc really was unsure whether all this was necessary for him. He was the Metalfist, wasn't he? He was practically invincible, or so he thought. The Poisoned Rose had really given him a wake up call.

And yet...why was he fighting her? He certainly didn't want to kill her. She...seemed so beautiful, even if she was a Nod Commando. This was so weird. And yet...so right...

He shook his head. She was all over his mind. He couldn't go a few minutes without thinking about her. He secretly wished she had followed him here.

He snapped a salute as a general and a fellow GDI Commando stepped forward.

"Lieutenant-General Wesley Collins and Lieutenant Allen Johnson. It's a pleasure to meet you."

General Collins and Lieutenant Johnson returned the salute. "At ease, Henderson." General Collins nodded at him. "We've just got word of your arrival. Some problem back in Baku, isn't it?"

"You don't know the half of it..." Marc groaned inwardly. Why was everyone all over this? It was crazy. Just too crazy. Why wouldn't anyone just leave him alone?

"Still, we understand. It's been quite a long trip for you, and after all the fiascos, you really need a rest. Your quarters are third down the second corridor."

"Thanks." Marc strode down the empty corridors, his footsteps echoing crisply behind him. He entered his room, and as the door slid shut behind him, he opened the cupboard and undressed.

As the empty night fell over the GDI base, embracing the world in darkness, Marc lay down on the bed, savoring the silence the night had brought with it. The serenity of it nearly overwhelmed him.

Suddenly, a sound. Marc started up, turning to the window, sensing something was amiss.

He had barely turned before the window exploded and the Nod Commando leapt through and rolled to her feet.

Natalya blinked momentarily as the Metalfist whirled round, surprised, only wearing a pair of jeans and a singlet. For a few moments she stared at his torso before she reached for the knife tucked in her belt. The Metalfist smiled, nodding at her.

"Is this the rematch?" His lips parted over his teeth. Natalya gripped the knife tightly, sweat matting her palms. Now she would not fail.

"Yes..." She sprang up at him, the knife arcing towards him. To her surprise, he did not resist, even as she forced him to the ground, raising the knife up high above him. He reached out, gently stroking her knife hand and guiding it to his throat.

"If you want to kill me so much, go ahead," he murmured. "Put me out of my misery..."

His smile grew wider. "If you _can_, that is..."

Natalya gritted her teeth, preparing to drive the blade against his throat. Yet to do so, she had to stare him in the face, see the life drain out of the eyes of his, see his features contort as death claimed him.

Could she do that?

She slumped back against the bed and waited for death to claim her. He wouldn't need her knife or even his claws. A single direct punch would do it.

Metal fingers reached out and caressed her face. She looked up, surprised, as the Metalfist smiled at her, much more kindly this time.

"You're a really good fighter..." he murmured. "And you're really beautiful..."

"Thanks..." she replied hesitantly. She looked up into his face as he brushed her long auburn hair, of someone whom she had tried to kill moments before, failed to do so, and didn't take revenge. _There_, she decided. He was the way out of her miserable life.

"What's your real name?" he asked again.

"Natalya Krupskaya..."

"Natalya..." He nodded approvingly. "Suits you..." He extended his hand. "The name's Marc Henderson..."

"Marc..." She tested the name as she shook his hand. A smile came to her face. "Okay, Marc. Why don't you repay the favor. Same time tomorrow. The Nod base on the other side of the valley..."

"You're on." The words were out of his mouth before Marc realized it. Natalya smiled, her green eyes glittering. She kissed him lightly on his cheek.

"Excellent..." she breathed. She tossed a small piece of paper at him. Marc caught it between his fingers. As he studied it, he realized it was a blueprint of the Nod base, indicating her own quarters.

"Be punctual." She leapt out of the room, landing with barely a sound. Marc shook his head in amazement. She hadn't even raised the alarm at the base. She really was a skilled fighter. Then, he replayed her parting words in his head.

Holy crap. Had he just agreed to a _date_?

And millions of light-years away, the Scrin planetary assault craft reached the outer fringes of the Milky Way.

"Overlord, everything is proceeding according to plan. We are now entering the outskirts of their galaxy," the Mothership AI reported.

"Very well." The Overlord watched as the Drone Ships and planetary assault craft streaked into the Orion Arm in perfect synchronization.

"Soon..." he muttered, an evil grin spreading across his face. "Soon..."


	8. Chapter 7: Flesh, Blood and Steel

Chapter 7: Flesh, Blood And Steel

**June 2051**

**Temple Prime, Bosnia-Herzegovina**

Confessor Ragnok shook his head in frustration as he sat down in front of the Nod supercomputer in the halls of the Confessors.

First Xander, now Vasily. Did they really think they could take the Metalfist head on and win? He himself could not fathom the thought. Still, it had been a very fitting end for them. Xander was proving to be quite a hindrance in his path. And now Vasily had joined him in heaven.

Confessor Ragnok tapped at the supercomputer. As the icons on the supercomputer's screen flashed by, a single icon amongst fifty caught his eye. He returned to the page and stared at it intently.

Unlike all the other files in the computer, which contained schematics for operations, secret weapon diagnostics, plans for new vehicles and upgrades, the file was largely unmarked. Yet the title of the file caught his eye.

Project PHOENIX.

He had heard of it before only once, mentioned secretly by Brother Marcion. His mind had ached to discover its secrets, what it really meant. He would be strung up just to even think or say this, but Brother Marcion and Kane were not known for their transparency on subjects like these.

The icon flashed temptingly before him, almost daring him to open it. A corner of Confessor Ragnok's mouth arched upwards as his gauntleted fingers closed in on the mouse, caressing it for a moment. His hand secured its grip upon it and very slowly, his index finger applied a slow, controlled pressure to the button.

**Nod Forward Base**

**Kharkhov, Ukraine**

Natalya yawned and stretched out on her bed, watching the sun set over the distant horizon. She stared up at the ceiling, thinking of what she had done.

This was wrong, she knew. It went against everything she had fought for. Everything she had ever known. Everything that had made her one of the best Nod Commandos ever. Still...it just felt so right, she was sure of that. She sighed, shaking her head. Why was she so confused?

She rinsed off briefly in the showers, pulled on her combat gear and laser pistols and headed out of her room, down the hallowed corridors of the Nod base. She turned the corner just as Master Sergeant Jak Hoffman materialized out of nowhere in front of her.

"Where are you going?"

Natalya moved past him. "I'm just going for a walk..."

"Can I go with you?" He smirked at her. She half-smiled back at him.

"You're really persistant, aren't you?" She smiled, remembering the countless times Jak Hoffman had unsuccessfully asked her out and walked out the gates of the Nod base. As soon as she left the furthest boundaries of the base she broke into a run, into the fading twilight.

**GDI Forward Base**

Captain Marc Henderson looked out the window of the GDI base, as the last rays of sunlight began to disappear over the horizon. He sat down on his bed, having second thoughts.

This was extraordinarily risky, he knew. If he was ever found out with her, he would be kicked out of GDI. His name would forever be connected with treason and Nod. As far as GDI were concerned, he would be dead.

Could he take that risk? Either way, he had no choice. He had given his promise, and by no way he was going to go back on it. He sighed and pulled on black combat gear, his assault railgun and a few detonation packs. He slung his weaponry over his shoulder and walked out of the base, heading for the Nod base.

As he reached the Nod base, he opened the piece of paper Natalya had given him. Perusing it for the last time, he crumpled it and threw it into the forest. He turned back to the Nod base. Just then, he noticed it.

He looked up to see a flash of red laser blasts streak up into the sky. As he looked closer, he realised it was coming from a hill behind the Nod base.

Which meant he had to go all the way through the Nod base. He looked around, and there it was, on the floor: a portable stealth generator. He activated it and slipped silently into the base, moving swiftly through the shadows. The stealth-detection scanners on the Shredder Turrets, Laser Turrets, SAM Turrets and Obelisks of Light activated, but Marc had moved well out of range.

As he reached the outskirts of the hill, the gentle scent of roses wafted down from the top of the hill. Marc let her scent guide him to the top. As he reached the top, Natalya smiled at him.

"Right on time..." she murmured.

"What's with the change of venue?" Marc asked.

She shrugged. "I just thought a little night air would be nice..." She smiled, tilting her head.

The full moon shone high in the darkened skies, and as the moonlight shone down upon them, Marc gasped softly. Natalya drew close to him, and only then he saw her full and true beauty. Her eyes shone in the darkness, the shadows played with her slender, beautiful face, her smile multiplied her beauty tenfold.

_If she was beautiful from a distance, she's perfect up close,_ Marc thought. He pressed his lips against the pale, slender, softly scented skin of her neck. "Natalya...you're just so beautiful..." He embraced her, gently stroking her hair, his hands soon moving down, down her body, along her flank. She arched at the caress, murmuring softly in Russian, embracing him in turn, resting her head on his shoulder.

"I...I think I love you, Marc..." Natalya murmured softly as Marc's hands touched the very spot he had shot her in. Yet his hands seemed to lessen the pain he had caused her. She turned her head, looking him in the eyes. Her hand reached out, stroking his face. She held his left hand in her other hand, feeling metal caress her flesh.

It was strange, to think that such warmth could come from him, yet in his metal hand she felt more warmth than anyone else's. She closed her eyes as Marc ran his hands along her hair, winding his hand amongst her hair. Marc's lips caressed her cheek, and she embraced him even more tightly.

"Forbidden fruit never tasted so sweet," he murmured, before his lips met hers. They held each other in the darkness, savoring the silence and each other.

Then, in the moonlight, Marc saw a flash of metal glistening on Natalya's neck. He gently reached down and lifted it up.

It was a locket on a chain, a glistening silver heart that shone brightly in the moonlight. As Marc turned it over in his hand, he saw the Russian words:

Любовь

Наталья

Анастасия

Сестры навсегда

Marc nodded as he read the words softly. "Lyubov, Natalya, Anastasia, Sisters Forever..." He shook his head in amazement.

"Lyubov's dead," Natalya replied softly.

Marc blinked. "For once, I'm actually sorry to hear that."

Suddenly they heard it. The sound of shouting and movement. The loud rips as machine guns and assault rifles were fired. Only then had they realized the base had been infiltrated.

"You have to go. NOW!" she hissed. "I'll think of something..."

Marc ran into the darkness, even as hell started to explode all around him.


	9. Chapter 8: Resurrection

Sorry for the REALLY long wait, guys, I just couldn't find the time! But here it is now, and I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 8: Resurrection

**TWO WEEKS LATER...**

**GDI Central Command**

**Washington D.C.**

As Captain Vera Walters slept, she drifted slowly in dreamland.

She had to catch up on rest now, if she wanted any rest at all. In a few hours she would be redeployed again, this time to Belarus. In a few moments, she would be thrown into combat yet again.

As the heavy rain beat down endlessly on the base and the lightning slashed the sky, she dreamed. She just hoped he would finally come after so long. The wait had become almost unbearable. Yet she put up with it every day. She just had to.

She dimly sensed the door to her room slide open and felt someone walk into her room. She was just too tired to wave him away, tell him she didn't want to be bothered. But something about this person seemed...different. And familiar. Very familiar.

She opened her eyes as he embraced her. Momentarily gasping, she looked up into his eyes and embraced him tightly. Her lips found his and they kissed passionately in the privacy of her room. After what seemed like an eternity, they finally let go. Captain Vera Walters smiled sweetly at him, in direct contrast to her usual tough self.

"Schaefer..." she smiled, looking up into his handsome face.

Captain Warren Schaefer, her boyfriend, company leader of GDI Zone Trooper Orbital Drop Command, smiled back at her.

"It's been too long, baby..." She stared into his face, his dark, spiky hair, his deep maroon eyes, the scar slicing diagonally along his face, cutting across his right eye. They had last been together three months ago, since Captain Warren Schaefer had been transferred to police what had been left of the city of Volgograd. Battling with remnants of Nod troops, insurrectionists and gangs, he had been severely wounded by shrapnel through the face, nearly taking his eye out. She reached out, running her hands along the deep red scar. He winced slightly as the pain flashed up the scar.

"Careful..."

"Sorry." She smiled at him, stroking his face. "Where will you be deployed next?"

Schaefer shrugged. 'Possibly Minsk."

"Minsk? We're going to fight there very soon!"

He smirked. "I heard Nod's really built up in there. You'll gonna need all the help you can get." Just then, the door slid open and a slender Zone Raider with beautiful dark hair, blue eyes and a well-defined jawline glanced in. She blushed momentarily when she saw Vera Walters and Warren Schaefer together.

"Sorry, Captain, am I bothering you?"

Captain Walters smiled reassuringly back and exchanged a glance with Schaefer. "Not at all, Erin," she replied. "What is it?"

Lieutenant Erin Samuels, platoon leader of Captain Walters's company, nodded. "Anyway, the Ox's all set and everyone's all ready. We were just waiting for you and the rest of the officers."

Captain Walters nodded, shooting a quick glance at Schaefer. "Right," she said. She pulled on her armor and hefted her sonic grenade launcher. "Let's go."

Meanwhile...

**Zagreb, Croatia**

On the other side of the world, Natalya Krupskaya was engaged in a furious battle against GDI.

GDI had hit the city with everything they had, reducing the city to rubble with artillery, tanks and carpet bombings. Innocent civilians had been killed, historic monuments destroyed, but did GDI ever care about that? No, not at all. Instead, GDI just pretended nothing even happened. Their single-mindedness to destroy Nod had left the world lacerated and bruised. And, Natalya noted in her mind, had caused her to join Nod against GDI.

She heard the chatter of bullets just in time, and rolled for cover behind the shell of a destroyed Scorpion Tank. As she peeked out, she saw three squads of GDI Riflemen charging at her, their GD-2 assault rifles blazing, filling the air with bullets. Bullets slammed into the shell of the tank, riddling it with holes. She ducked out and fired back, drowning out the drone of the rifles with the high-pitched whine of her laser pistols.

The first squad went down before they realized it. The other squads retreated, but as they did so, Natalya shot them all in the back as they turned tail. She smiled, but she touched her hand to her shoulder and saw blood. She twirled her laser pistols and continued forward.

All around her, Nod soldiers charged, wielding old assault rifles, RPGs, miniguns and flamethrowers, firing the weapons wildly in the air as they charged. Their GDI opponents steadily retreated, their GD-2 rifles brought up, firing as they moved back.

Suddenly, a massive booming cannon roared, followed by a powerful barrage of rockets. Natalya watched as men were blown apart from where they stood and vehicles exploded into massive fireballs and flaming shrapnel. There was something coming up from behind. As she watched, she saw what it was.

GDI's infamous Mammoth Mk. 27 Tanks advanced threateningly forward, blasting anything that dared to fire back out of the ground. They trundled forward slowly, no match for anything Nod had in terms of speed, but made up for it in resilient armor and incredible firepower.

Natalya swore. They had nothing powerful enough to take the Mammoths on. Whatever vehicle they sent, the Mammoths would take them apart.

And then it hit her. She brought the wrist mike to her mouth.

"Anna! What do we have?" she asked.

"Only eight Enlightened cyborg squads, nowhere near enough to kill those Mammoths," Lieutenant Anastasia Evans's voice sounded in her ear.

"I have an idea. Get four of the Enlightened squads on one side of that valley. Get the other four on the other side. Let's try a pincer on them."

"Got it, Poisoned Rose." Natalya watched as she saw her comrade and best friend and the cyborg soldiers charge across the battlefield, getting into position. The Mammoths were just about to pass the valley. She counted softly to herself.

5...4...3...2...1...

The Mammoths reached the valley and began to trundle clumsily through it. _Now or never_, thought Natalya.

"NOW!"

The Enlightened soldiers fired from both sides down at the Mammoths' flanks, gouging scars of melted metal along the sides of the massive tanks. As the tanks turned around, obviously caught by surprise, the Enlightened cyborgs fired their other weapon, an EMP cannon.

The Mammoths were caught by surprise, disabled, with their backs to the Nod tanks. At that moment, all the Nod infantry, vehicles and aircraft unleashed a withering storm of gunfire and missiles on the Mammoths.

Natalya watched in immense satisfaction as the tanks exploded into massive fireballs, taking out everything next to them in a single continuous explosion.

**Temple Prime**

**Bosnia-Herzegovina**

Confessor Ragnok walked slowly to the quarters of Brother Marcion and General Anton Rolf, dragging his feet as he walked.

He cursed himself silently for letting himself be tempted into opening the file for Project PHOENIX. He should have just ignored it. But now, as he walked, he knew that this could possibly be the end of is life.

He knocked on the door, dread enveloping him.

"Come in, Confessor." As he walked in, he saw the room had changed greatly since he had seen it yesterday. The whole room was cloaked in darkness, almost as if to hide something. Brother Marcion was nowhere to be seen. General Anton Rolf sat at his desk, his fingers steepled. Beside him, two cloaked figures knelt.

Confessor Ragnok bowed long and low. "I am here, General. Why have you called me?" Ragnok knew the answer.

General Rolf smiled at him. "Why so nervous, Ragnok?" As Confessor Ragnok cringed, the Nod general nodded. "We know what you've been doing, Ragnok."

Ragnok grew angry. "I just wanted to know what the project was about! Is there anything wrong with that? And besides, where are Kane and Marcion?"

"Why, yes, Confessor. We value secrecy greatly. Secrecy and stealth. They are our only edges over GDI. And just so you know, Kane and Marcion are in our headquarters at Ayers Rock." General Rolf nodded at Ragnok. "Tell me what you know about Project PHOENIX."

Ragnok took a deep breath. "Project PHOENIX is a cloning project. Nod infantry are flash-cloned and their clones then made into cyborgs. This is to intimidate GDI into thinking we have twice as many soldiers as we already have. The clones are also more resilient than the original and are stronger and faster."

"Good," General Rolf smiled. "Very good. And by the way, I'm sorry to hear of your fallen comrades. Xander and Vasily."

Ragnok swore under his breath. "They were fools to try and fight the Metalfist like that. It was sheer suicide!"

General Rolf nodded. "What if...they knew full well they were going to die...?" He nodded as Ragnok's eyes went wide as saucers. "How could they have been in two places at once?"

Now Ragnok remembered talking to Vasily in Baku when he should have been in Vladivostok. Xander was also dead, yet there were also unconfirmed reports that he had also been sighted back at Temple Prime. He shook his head in horror. "Oh God..."

General Rolf watched Ragnok, an evil grin forming on his face. "All our previous cyborgs pale in comparison to them." He gestured at the two cloaked figures. "Behold...Ragnok...behold the epitome of our achievements..."

Ragnok watched, mouth agape, as the two cloaked figures slowly stood up, cloaks whirling.

"Behold...the Deacon and the Blackfriar..."

As Ragnok watched, the two figures stepped into the light and threw back the hoods of their cloaks.

He found himself staring at the twisted, half-metal faces of Confessor Xander and Confessor Vasily.


	10. Chapter 9: The Rose's Tale

Chapter 9: The Rose's Tale

**Temple Prime**

**Bosnia-Herzegovina**

Confessor Ragnok watched in horror as he saw the Deacon raise his right hand. The twisted, mangled face of Confessor Xander leered at him as his hand smoothly transformed into a Supercharged Particle Beam cannon, aimed right at Ragnok's head.

Confessor Ragnok's mouth went dry. He simply could not let these..._abominations_ take control of the Confessors. He had despised cyborgs greatly, abominations to natural life. Yet here he stood at the mercy of the most powerful cyborgs Nod had ever created. Ragnok stared at General Anton Rolf, horror-struck.

"General...WHY?"

General Rolf gave him a sad smile. "Sorry, Ragnok, but times have changed. It seems you are no longer needed."

Ragnok's mouth gaped as the cannon began to charge. He began to scream, "No!" as the Particle Beam cannon unleashed a terrifying blast that threw Ragnok off his feet, sending him slamming into the wall with such force that cracks appeared, marking the spot of impact. Ragnok's body slid to the floor, his mouth agape in an endless scream, a large gaping hole in his armor. Blood painted the walls behind him, in a grisly mosaic.

General Rolf prodded Ragnok's body, satisfied. "For the record, Ragnok, you were far too annoying to be included in the project." He turned to the Blackfriar and the Deacon, nodding approvingly."Nice colour," he added to Ragnok's unmoving body, noticing the blood stains on the wall. He turned back to the Blackfriar and the Deacon. "Excellent work, my warriors. Now, we can truly take over Nod once and for all!"

The room almost shook with the sound of evil laughter.

Meanwhile...

**Belarus, Minsk**

As the powerful artillery shell slammed into the ground, First Sergeant Jacob Bertenrath of the Zone Troopers was thrown off his feet. He rolled to his feet and turned just in time to see a Nod Militant aim his assault rifle at him. He reached for his railgun and blew the militant to pieces. Beside him, Private Hector Gerald and Corporal Victor Deckerman raised their railguns and fired. The Attack Bike that was heading towards them exploded outward in twisted, melted metal, burning rubber and shrapnel.

Sergeant Bertenrath gritted his teeth. There was just too many of them. No matter how many they killed or destroyed, more Nod infantry and vehicles just took their place. He turned behind and smiled as he saw GDI APCs rolling steadily forward, their machine guns blazing away at everything that moved. Suddenly, he saw a flash of movement, and to his horror, eight Nod Stealth Tanks materialized out of nowhere.

They fired.

The APCs were practically gutted by the hail of rockets fired by the Stealth Tanks. The APCs cracked into pieces before exploding into bursts of fire, melted metal and body parts. Private Gerald winced to himself as he heard the screams of those unlucky to be trapped inside. All that remained of the APCs were their skeletons and giant scorch marks on the ground.

"Hello? ANYONE!? Any GDI units in the area, RESPOND! We are under heavy fire and need assistance! Repeat, WE NEED ASSISTANCE NOW!" Sergeant Bertenrath screamed into his radio. They were seriously at risk of being overrun very soon. As he turned, a Nod Tiberium Trooper squad came up, spraying corrosive liquid Tiberium everywhere. The Zone Troopers managed to blow them away, but not before Corporal Deckerman and Sergeant Bertenrath were hit by the corrosive sludge. Their armor hissed as the sludge burned right through it.

Suddenly, a familiar voice came on his headset.

"We're right behind you, Bertenrath. Hold your position..."

Sergeant Bertenrath couldn't believe it. "Raymond! You there?"

Staff Sergeant Tricia Raymond came back over the radio. "We're almost there..."

As a new wave of Nod vehicles and infantry rushed towards them, he sky was filled with GDI Hammerhead gunships, their dual Vulcan cannons blazing away, raining bullets down upon the Nod forces, shredding infantry in their wake. As the Attack Bikes, Raider Buggies, Militant Rocket Squads and Mantises prepared to fire back, a shower of sonic grenades bombarded the ground below, smashing the vehicles below to smithereens. However, the missiles soon took their toll, and three Hammerheads exploded in fiery balls, spiralling wildly before crashing to the ground.

The lead Hammerhead landed next to the Zone Troopers and Staff Sergeant Tricia Raymond, Lieutenant Susan Anderson and Lieutenant Erin Samuels stepped off the gunship. Lieutenant Eric Jansen and Captain Warren Schaefer of the Zone Troopers followed suit.

"We brought a little help," Staff Sergeant Raymond smiled as multiple other figures stepped off the Hammerhead. GDI Sniper Teams. The Sniper Team commanding officers were Middle-Eastern, well-built and had casually slung their GLS-70 sniper railguns over their shoulders.

"Captain Khalid Omar and Sergeant-Major Feisal Ahmed at your service," the sniper commanding officers smiled. "Need somebody taken out?"

"Yeah," grimaced Sergeant Bertenrath in pain. "A _lot_ of somebodies..."

The snipers slid their sniper railguns to their eyes and casually took aim.

"I see three squads of Tiberium Troopers coming our way..." muttered a Sniper Team soldier. As one, the snipers fired. "Make that _two_ squads." They fired again twice. "And then there were none..."

Just then, a few GDI Juggernauts trundled up to their position, while being strafed angrily by Nod Venoms like bees. The Zone Raiders casually fired a few surface-to-air missiles and blew them out of the sky. The Zone Troopers who could still fight and Zone Raiders took up covering positions around the Juggernauts. One of the Juggernaut drivers raised his hatch.

"Can you get the coordinates for the Nod base defences over there?" asked the Juggernaut drivers. He primed the three massive 200mm cannons on his Juggernaut, preparing to key in the coordinates and direct a bombardment. Captain Khalid Omar and Sergeant-Major Feisal Ahmed crawled slowly, not giving away their position.

Then came Captain Khalid Omar's voice

"Coordinates for base defences are 120, 549. Bring the rain!"

The Juggernauts raised their cannons to the sky and fired, a crescendo of artillery shells blasting into the sky.

Captain Khalid Omar and Sergeant-Major Feisal Ahmed watched in grim satisfaction as the shells descended on the Nod base defences and reduced them to rubble. The GDI forces swarmed into the base en masse.

**Nod Forward Base**

**Lisbon, Portugal**

In the Nod base, all was quiet.

And in the silence, a Nod Commando was busy counting to herself as she did pull-ups. Her body shook and she gritted her teeth as she painstakingly pulled herself up. Her lithe, svelte body was matted with perspiration.

"...98...99...100."

At the last pull, she levered herself over the bar and held the pose for five seconds, before flipping back down and rolling to her feet. As Natalya got back up, she massaged her burning muscles. She checked the twenty-four clock. It was already 2030.

Shit. She hurriedly rushed out of her quarters and headed off into the forest next to the base. As she ran into the forest, she saw Marc leaning casually against a tree.

Marc smiled and she threw her arms around him. They held each other as they looked up into the dark night, at the moon shining in the sky. There was a long, awkward silence.

Then Marc spoke.

"Natalya, if you don't mind...could you tell me why you joined Nod in the first place?"

Natalya was taken aback. She looked away for a long moment, before she looked back at him. She took a deep breath.

"When I was young, my whole family lived in Irkutsk. We were so happy back then. We were all so sure we were safe. Safe from the war. That is, until GDI announced it was going to bomb the city next to ours, where a large Nod base was contained.

"But something..." Natalya looked up at Marc, and he saw small tears starting to form in her eyes. "Something went wrong. GDI used the Ion Cannon on Irkutsk by mistake. Razed the whole city to the ground. I was at home when it happened, and I was the only one who made it to the basement in time. The rest of my family..." A tear started to roll down her cheek. There was no need to complete the sentence.

Marc was shocked. "God...the Ion Cannon..." He could imagine it himself. The superheated blue beams forming in the centre of the city then spiralling inwards and converging at dead centre, before the killing blow. The horrible shockwave and ion blast, as building and flesh alike vaporized. "Were...were you the only one?"

"Yes. I had nowhere to go, so I went to another town and begged in the streets. I learned a lot from there." She half-smiled. "More than anything I had ever learned in school. Then along came a couple who were willing to take me in. They said they were delighted to adopt a child.

"And what did they do? They made me their personal slave. I was forced to do their every bidding, no matter how menial. Every day I had to work, and I was beaten often." Natalya turned around and raised a corner of her shirt. Marc's eyes widened as he saw a few long, thin red lines down her back, scarring the smooth, pale skin of her back.

"And then, when it all got too much, I ran away and joined Nod."

Marc nodded. "And then you became a Nod Commando." As she looked up at him again, he noticed a new light in her eyes. Even though she was a Nod Commando and killing was second nature to her, her eyes still shone of innocence. Now her eyes had the light of someone who had been to hell and back.

As Marc watched, Natalya turned and rested her head on his shoulder. Marc turned to look at her, finally realising what she had gone through.

"Have you told anyone else this?" he asked.

Natalya shook her head. "But now you know, so let's just keep this our little secret."

**Nod Headquarters**

**Ayers Rock, Australia**

As Kane stepped into the room, the members of Nod's Inner Circle solemnly stood up. They were glum, knowing that GDI was rapidly advancing on Temple Prime. However, Kane appeared calm and collected.

"Gentlemen," Kane muttered, "there shall be no unhappy faces at this meeting." As Brother Marcion and the other members of the Inner Circle looked up at him in disbelief, Kane smiled.

"Yes, GDI is advancing upon Temple Prime. But even so, they have forgotten something _very _important..." Kane pointed to a map, to the south of the world. The Inner Circle gasped, then chuckled menacingly.

Both sides were sure of victory. So sure, in fact, that both of them failed to see the Scrin ships preparing for landing. The Scrin Overlord stood at the bridge of the Mothership.

"Deploy the landing craft..." From the bridge, he watched in growing satisfaction as the Scrin Drone Platforms and landing craft streaked down to Earth.


	11. Chapter 10: Assault

Chapter 10: Assault

**July 2051**

**GDI Forward Base**

**Cologne, Germany**

Lieutenant Allen Johnson watched from the tower of the GDI Airfield, scanning the skies on the radar screen in the control tower. He tapped the controls incessantly, almost lazily. It was a very boring job, but he had to bear with it. The GDI Commando scrolled the screen, yawning. _Why the hell did I have to be selected for this shit?_ he thought.

Then he saw it on his radar. About thirty purple blips were heading for the base. He rubbed his eyes and looked at it again is disbelief, as at that moment the entire control panel screamed and flashed. Sirens blared, alarm lights lit up, engulfing the room a maelstrom of lights and sounds. As Lieutenant Johnson ran out of the control tower, the thirty Stormriders swooped down on the base like a swarm of metallic purple bats, strafing mercilessly with their plasma guns. Lieutenant Johnson ran for cover, spraying bullets in the air wildly with his assault railgun. As the Stormriders swooped down, the AA Batteries on the base opened fire, shredding them in midair. The survivors soon beat a hasty retreat. Lieutenant Johnson sighed in relief. Still, he was worried.

_Oh no, not _these_ guys again,_ he thought. He tapped his helmet. "Attention all GDI forces! We have alien contact..._again_!" At last the GDI forces in the base began to act. As GDI soldiers rushed out hastily, bringing their weapons out, a wave of Scrin infantry and vehicles swarmed the base.

A few Rifleman squads took up covering positions, raising their GD-2 assault rifles. Their rifles buzzed as they unleashed a hailstorm of bullets on the oncoming Scrin infantry. Yet the Scrin Ravagers and Shock Troopers took cover behind rocks and damaged houses, clinically leapfrogging each other and soon they tore the Riflemen to shreds. They hurled shards of Tiberium and fired plasma.

Lieutenant Johnson shook his head as he fired back. He and his troops were in massive danger of being overrun. He sprayed bullets at the enemy, trying in vain to hold them back.

_Goddamn it, there's just too many of 'em_...he thought. He reached for the microphone in his helmet."All units, this is Lieutenant Johnson. Initiate code Bloodied Dagger. I repeat, initiate code Bloodied Dagger. Fall back to secondary base in fifteen minutes."

As he and his troops fell back, he pressed his finger down on a button and watched as the entire base self-destructed, taking the Scrin with it in a massive fireball.

**Nod Forward Base**

**Lisbon, Portugal**

The Nod Shadow Team soldier, Master Sergeant Jak Hoffman, crept slowly, machine pistols at the ready. He knew to be careful. The Scrin did not have the advantage of stealth, but they sure were sneaky. As he turned the corner, two Shock Troopers leapt out at him. In one fluid motion, he brought up his twin machine pistols and fired. The Shock Troopers crashed unceremoniously to the ground, bleeding sickly green blood. Hoffman cringed back at the sight.

He turned as Lieutenant Anastasia Evans and Lieutenant James Delacroix slipped in, laser pistols and machine pistols held respectively. Suddenly, they felt a distinct rumbling in the ground. And then...

They dropped to the ground as a powerful green laser raked the walls around them, slicing in half the abandoned house they were hiding in. As they scrambled out of the house, firing their weapons at Scrin Ravagers that leaped out at them, slashing with their front legs, the Reaper Tripod turned and aimed its three deadly lasers at them.

The ensuing blasts ripped the ground beneath their feet as they rolled for cover. Jak Hoffman and James Delacroix ducked as debris and shrapnel whipped over them, emptying their magazines uselessly against the Tripod's tough energy shield. As Delacroix watched, Jak Hoffman pulled two RPGs from the hands of two dead Militant Rocket Squads and tossed one over to him. As the Tripod aimed again, they fired simultaneously.

The twin rockets spiralled almost gracefully towards the Tripod, hitting it square in its center, hurting it even through its energy shield. It stumbled for a moment, and then swung back, out for revenge. The bio-mechanical monster glowed bright green, and it absorbed the Tiberium around it. This time, the beams would be far stronger.

But a more horrifying thought raced through their minds.

_Where was Anastasia?_

As they turned, a massive explosion filled the air. They covered their faces, shielding their faces from the hailstorm of debris and shrapnel. The ground rippled like the surface of a lake and cracks began to appear. As the worst of the explosion subsided, Lieutenant Anastasia Evans had reappeared next to them. In the space of ten minutes she had fought her way to the Tripod, slammed a detonation pack on it, destroyed it and fought her way back again.

The Nod Commando had a long cut stretching along her side, but she was largely unhurt. "Come on!" she yelled to the Shadow Team soldiers as she brought up her laser pistols and fired, blowing apart a few Disintegrators where they stood. They raced through the wreck of their base, desperate to hold off the Scrin for as long as they could.

**GDI Central Command**

**Washington, D.C.**

GDI Central Command looked like a hurricane had hit it.

Papers were strewn all over tables, briefcases were upended, chairs were lying on their sides, and to top everything off, GDI Central Command was utterly panicky. The only conclusive thing they had been able to do was discuss the SOS Lieutenant Johnson had sent out earlier.

A code Bloody Dagger. The highest of all the distress codes, this was only used in the event of a total rout. When they had been totally defeated and their base razed to the ground. A court-martial followed anyone who used this code for anything lesser than that, regardless of rank.

GDI Director Claudia Darius tried desperately to keep GDI Central Command under control. "Remember, they may be back, but we beat them twice already, and we can still beat them again. We just have to keep a cool mind, marshal our troops, and defeat them with our best commanders." She tried her best to persuade her subordinates to keep a cool head, but even she doubted her words. After all, their best commanders were currently battling Nod, with no reserves.

"Such wise words, Director Darius."

As everyone whirled round in shock, the main screen in the conference room flickered on and Kane, in the bowels of Temple Prime, materialized on the screen. Director Darius smiled; at least Nod were in a worse state than GDI, now that they were almost about to destroy the innermost Nod bases. "Save the mock bravado, Kane. You're weak now and you know it yourself. Even your propaganda can't deny that. The only way you're going to defeat the invaders is with GDI's help, and we may not be willing to give you that help." Director Darius held her breath. If Nod really did decide to put away their conflict with GDI for now and defeat the invaders, they might just be able to defeat the Scrin.

To her and everyone else's surprise, Kane just chuckled. His small chuckles soon escalated into full-scale laughter. He shook his head, wiping tears from his eyes.

"_I_ need _your_ help?" He laughed again. "You may think you're winning, but you're wrong. _You_ need _my_ help."

"What do you mean?" General Frédéric Leroi demanded.

"I mean this, General Leroi." Kane tapped a button and a world map appeared on the screen behind him. The camera zoomed in, focusing on the continent of Europe. Kane had been almost unnaturally impartial; the GDI-controlled and Nod-controlled zones were marked almost perfectly. The border of GDI's zone was greatly expanding whereas Nod's border was decreasing exponentially.

The camera zoomed out and focused again, this time on the continent of South America. Everyone in the conference room gasped as they saw the map.

The entire continent was under Nod control, with no sigh of GDI anywhere in South America, Central America or the Caribbean. Kane's face soon reappeared on the screen.

"While you were rapidly advancing on Temple Prime, Nod forces have covertly entered South America right under your noses and advanced. We have routed all your forces in South America and jammed your communications so no distress signals got out. Nod forces have just captured Cuba. From here, we can target any city in the United States with our nuclear missiles. So if you think hat Nod is weak now, think again. But if you acknowledge our strength and call for a ceasefire, I _may_ consider an alliance for the current moment. "

Kane disappeared from the screen, leaving GDI Central Command in even more disarray than before.


	12. Chapter 11: Across The Endless Skies

Chapter 11: Across the Endless Skies

**Scrin Mothership**

**Low Earth Orbit**

Above Earth, the Scrin Overlord looked down at his handiwork across the Tiberium-infested Earth, marvelling at how much more successful the Scrin was this time.

He had successfully destroyed many Earth cities, reduced them to rubble and piles of dust. More than that. He had watched as one by one, they crumbled under his relentless attacks like sandcastles, pummelled over and over into utter submission. He had watched as his spacecraft flew circles around the pathetic human aircraft, knocking them out of the sky. He had savoured each and every one of these sights.

As he stared out at the planet that would soon be his, Foreman 371 stepped up beside him. The Scrin Foreman bowed deeply.

"Foreman, we are closing in on the last few major human settlements. Resistance has been tough and our forces are being held up in many places. Request permission to use the Eradicator Hexapods, Overlord. With these, we shall lay waste to every last human settlement on this pathetic planet."

The Scrin Overlord smiled. Oh yes, how he wanted to see the Eradicators in action...

"Send them in," he murmured, unable to hide his glee. "Let's watch the show from here..."

**Temple Prime**

**Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina**

As the sun began to sink into the horizon, the Shadow Team soldiers Master Sergeant Jak Hoffman and Lieutenant James Delacroix and the Nod Commandos Lieutenant Anastasia Evans and Lieutenant Natalya Krupskaya lay flat on their stomachs, watching and waiting for the impending Scrin assault on Temple Prime. Jak Hoffman looked up at the sky. The sunset seemed so beautiful, so pleasant...He half-smiled to himself. _Somehow_, he reflected, _you always notice these things just before a battle_. He reloaded his machine pistols, trying to act cool as ice. Deep down inside, he was scared as hell.

James Delacroix sat up, pistols at his sides. He saw the Nod Commandos looking away and stole a long glance at them. They were both so beautiful, yet in two completely different ways.

Natalya was living, breathing sensuality, every part of her flowing smoothly into each other, from her long auburn hair, her beautiful face, the graceful curves of her body, even her deep green eyes. Almost every man in Nod was after her. Yet she never really talked much, and there was a distinct sadness about her, and no one knew why. Anastasia, on the other hand, was nothing short of a mesmerizing explosion of activity and excitement, from her cropped brown hair, unfailing smile, and an eye-catching blend of curves that was her body. She was also sweet, sharp as a blade, and – James was most proud of this – his long-time girlfriend. James leaned in close to Anastasia as she brushed dirt out of her hair. Suddenly a figure materialized out of nowhere right next to them. James groaned as he saw who it was.

The enigmatic commanding officer of the Nod Shadow Team, Major Andrew Westley, stood over them, a small smirk on his face. James hated him heartily and they were always at loggerheads. "Have I interrupted something private, Delacroix?"

James scowled at him. Anastasia on the other hand stared the major in the eye. "Don't you guys _ever_ say anything nice about each other, _sir_?" she asked, her tone hard. Major Westley took an involuntary step back before regaining his composure. He looked at Anastasia with newfound respect.

"Well, he has a _hot_ girlfriend. I'll give him that." As the major walked away, Anastasia hoped to hell nobody saw her turn slightly pink. She turned back to James, grinning from ear to ear.

A moment later, the air raid siren went off.

James, Anastasia, Jak and Natalya dove for cover in the Nod headquarters as from across the endless skies, countless Stormriders came screaming in, their plasma guns blazing away at anything that moved. They were no match for the SAM turrets of the base however, and were soon blasted out of the sky. Purple alien metal fell like twisted, burning snow. However, as the four knew too well, much worse was yet to come.

And it did.

The infantry came first, a swarm of deadly insect-like metallic creatures, rushing at Temple Prime like an unstoppable herd of bulls, plasma weapons, cutting beams and Tiberium shards at the ready. Screaming inhumanly, the infantry moved in perforce down the roads leading up to Temple Prime. As Nod Venoms zoomed out, they let rip with their miniguns and lasers, cutting down the front line of aliens where they stood. However, they themselves fell as Shock Troopers fired superheated plasma discs at them. The Venoms just blew apart, melted by the plasma discs. As they moved in closer, the Obelisks of Light at the main entrances glowed deadly red, then fired, decimating the main horde. Natalya and Anastasia brought up their laser pistols and fired, mimicking each other's movements almost perfectly. As Jak and James did the same, a whirring in the sky caught their attention.

They looked up to see a massive group of GDI Hammerheads, APCs, V-35 Ox transport planes and tanks roll up, firing in their direction. Or more accurately, killing the Scrin. A single white armour-clad soldier leapt from a Hammerhead and cut down the survivors with one massive burst. As he reloaded, the Nod Commandos and Shadow Teams saw who he was.

"Holy shit, the Metalfist..." Jak Hoffman breathed, almost in awe. James Delacroix gaped at the GDI Commando. Natalya just grinned widely. Only Anastasia saw the single Scrin alien who had survived the extended burst. It moved forward, almost hopped, on spindly legs and its massive head was bright green, almost resembling a brain. She knew what it was from the intelligence dossier she had read just prior to this.

"_Recently, the Scrin have been using these units to teleport and mind-control human forces. This unit, which resembles the Scrin Mastermind, is called the Prodigy, and it is far deadlier than the Mastermind as it can control multiple units at once and teleport itself..."_

"Oh no!" Anastasia gasped as the Prodigy's head glowed bright green. She, the Metalfist, Jak, Natalya and James brought up their guns and fired...too late. Though it was deader than dead, its last action would have devastating consequences. It had summoned an Eradicator Hexapod.

The six-legged spider-like monstrosity reared up on its hind legs, an inhuman, metallic roar issuing from deep within it.


End file.
